Works Every Time
by Fishy314
Summary: Mal wakes up one morning with a pounding headache that doesn't get any better throughout the day. Is there a simple solution to this or is it far worse than they expect?


"Mal," Ben's soft voice whispered, "it's time to get up."

She smiled lazily as she woke, perfectly happy to be awoken at this awful hour if it was by Ben. Opening her eyes, she immediately closed them once again as she was hit with a pounding headache. Once the pain subsided a little, she slowly opened her eyes once more to see Ben's concerned expression.

"You okay?" he asked, propping his head up on his elbow.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just have a headache is all," she replied as she slowly began to sit up, clutching a hand to her head as a sharp pain went through her head at the change in position.

Ben sat up quickly, placing a comforting hand to her back. "Maybe you should skip classes today if you're hurting this much."

"No, no, I'll be fine," she repeated, standing up. "I'm sure it will be gone soon." She turned back to face Ben who was giving her a disbelieving look. Taking his hands in hers, she assured him, "I'm fine, Ben."

"That's what you always say," he sighed, standing up so he looked down at her. "But if you're going to go, then you better hurry because classes start in thirty minutes." With that, she spun around and flew through the room as she got ready ready for school.

With three minutes to spare, Mal and Ben arrived at the door to Mal's first class.

"I told you you didn't have to walk me here. Now you're going to be late," Mal told her boyfriend.

"Oh well," he shrugged, "being king does have its perks."

She smiled. "You're supposed to be a good influence, Your Highness."

"Every king makes mistakes," he smirked. "I'll see you later, My Lady." He placed a kiss to her hand and walked away as Mal entered the classroom.

Mal couldn't have sat down in the chair fast enough. Her head had been pounding as she raced about the dorm room and then walked to her class, and she was grateful to finally not be in motion. Just as she laid her head on the desk, the teacher entered the classroom. "Up, up, up," she told them all. "No sleeping in my class, students, no matter how early it is. That includes you, Lady Mal."

"Yes, ma'am," Mal murmured, sitting up. The next hour was going to crawl by.

"Ow ow ow ow ow," Mal thought with every step she took. Her head had not gotten any better, the pounding never ceasing.

Putting a smile on her face, she sat down at the lunch table across from Evie. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey, M," her friend replied. "You feeling okay?"

"Uh yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Mal said with a shrug.

"Ben told me to ask," Evie said airily, going back to looking at her phone where she was checking her appearance. "Said something about you having a headache."

Of course Ben would alert everyone of her slightest inconvenience. "Yah, I'm fine. Feeling much better," she lied.

"Glad to hear it," Ben's husky voice spoke into her ear as he came up behind her. Placing a kiss to her cheek, he then took the seat beside her. "I was a little worried you were coming down with something."

"Nope. All's great," she said, forcing a smile.

Jay, Carlos, and Doug joined the trio a few minutes later. As Mal nibbled on some strawberries, the rest of the group talked and laughed loudly. A nuisance for Mal's head.

Nearing the end of lunch, Mal thought her head was going to explode. The roar of the cafeteria around her was causing a storm to rage in her head. It hurt to hold her head up and her eyes open, for all she wanted was to lie down and sleep. Not that sleep would be even possible with the pounding in her head.

An extremely sharp pain suddenly went through her head, causing her to wince and a small noise to escape her.

"You good, Mal?" Carlos asked her.

"Mm hmm," she struggled out, nodding. "It's - it's too loud in here. I'll be back." She stood from her seat, taking a step only for a wave of dizziness to push her back, stumbling back into the table.

"Mal!" Ben jumped up, grabbing her. "We have to get you back to your dorm so you can lie down."

She nodded, eyes tightly closed as she fought against the pain in her head. Ben scooped her up into her arms and she nuzzled into his chest. She vaguely heard Evie say something about coming along before everything went black.

* * *

Mal awoke to an explosion of pain in her head, jolting upright in the bed she was now in. A strangled noise erupted from her throat as she clutched her head. "Please, please make it stop!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

Ben was suddenly at her side. "Mal, Mal what's wrong? What can I do?" he asked.

She turned to look at him and opened her eyes, and a small gasp escaped Ben just before she shut her eyes tightly once more. "Evie," she heard him say, "her eyes are green. Go get Fairy Godmother." She knew by the slamming of the door that Evie had quickly left.

Mal was confused. Her eyes hadn't been green since she'd given up magic at her Cotillion, which had been over six months ago. Why would her eyes suddenly become green if she hadn't even been able to use magic?

Ben rubbed her back and whispered soothing words to her until Evie returned with Fairy Godmother, who rushed over to Mal, nearly pushing Ben out of the way.

"Mal, my dear, I need you to look at me. I promise only for a second I just need to see your eyes."

"I… can't," she choked out. "It hurts too much."

"Please, Mal. I should be able to help if it is what I think it is."

Slowly, Mal opened her eyes once more, before she screamed again at the pain erupting through her.

"I'm so sorry, dear. But thank you. I believe I know what's wrong."

"What?" Ben urged. "What is it?"

"Well, since Mal has not been allowed to do any magic it has built up inside her, and her not using it has caused her this pain since it cannot escape her."

"No, that can't be. I mean, you and the three good fairies and even Genie don't feel like this and you guys don't use magic anymore," Ben reasoned.

"When the law was passed we were all much older than Mal is, Ben. Age dulls magic but since Mal is so young and her magic was already stopped by the dome for such a long time I'm afraid she's feeling the side effects very badly."

Ben glanced at Mal, curled tightly around herself with tear streaks down her cheeks. "So this is my fault?"

"No," Mal's small voice croaked. "No, Ben it's not your fault."

"Mal is right, Ben. You did not pass this law and we did not know it would do this to her."

"It is my fault though! I'm the one who told her she couldn't use her magic, even if I didn't pass the law. Since it's been passed no one has had any magic since no one has began using it if they had it, and I didn't even think about what would happen if someone just stopped," he ranted.

"Ben, you never knew," Evie said. "None of us did. I told her to stop, too."

"But I should've known, Evie. I'm the king; I should know everything about my people so I can make the right decisions." He looked over at Mal sadly. "And I didn't even know about my girlfriend."

"Ben, snap out of it! There's nothing you can do about the past! All that matters now is figuring out a way to help her, okay?" Evie reasoned, silencing him.

He let out a breath. "Okay. Fairy Godmother, what does she need to do?"

"Well, just doing any sort of spell should do the trick, since it would allow the magic to escape her."

"Oh, Mal! Do the hair one on me! I know you have it memorized," Evie exclaimed. "I've been wanting a change anyway."

"No," Mal whispered.

"Do you not remember it? I think it's like beware forswear, replace the old with blank hair."

"No," she answered again. "I'm not doing it."

"Mal, come on, please? If you don't want to do this one we have to go get your book to find another one," Ben pleaded.

"No," she snapped. "I'm not doing anything."

Her response sent all three into silence.

"What?" Ben spoke.

"You're not breaking some law for me, Benjamin," she said, emphasizing his name.

"Mal, people can use magic every once in a while if they have my permission. Don't you remember when Merlin used it because Madam Mim was wrecking Camelot?"

Mal sat up, tired of laying down and looking weak, even if she was still in massive pain. "Yeah, Merlin has used it once in the past ten years. Fairy Godmother only does it to coronate people. I would need to use it at least every couple months, and not for some special reason to help people. I'm using it for myself, and the only reason you're allowing it is because it's me, Ben." He opened his mouth to interrupt, but she stopped him. "Don't argue; you know I'm right."

He turned to Fairy Godmother and Evie, who were standing awkwardly as they acted like they weren't listening to the argument. "Could we have a minute, please?"

"Yes, of course. I don't think I'm needed here anymore anyways," Fairy Godmother replied before opening the door to leave.

"Yeah, and I'll go tell everyone else what's wrong with Mal," Evie answered before following Fairy Godmother out the door.

Ben turned back to Mal. "You really think I wouldn't let someone else use magic if it was physically hurting them?"

Mal rolled her eyes, regretting it after as Ben watched her grimace. "Physically hurting them. I'm not being physically hurt here, just a bad headache, Ben. If I was breaking apart into pieces as my magic was escaping me, then I could see why fixing this is important. But it's just a headache and the only reason you're freaking out is because it's me."

He ran a hand down his face. "How is a headache not 'physically hurting' you? You practically collapsed at lunch today."

"And I'm fine now, aren't I?"

"Only because you've been passed out and then awake and not moving for the past hour. And don't act like you're not in any pain; I know you better than that."

"What does it matter, Ben? I've dealt with pain before, I can do it again."

"But you shouldn't have to! Mal, it hurts me to see you in pain. So, do this for me then?" he said with a smile.

She looked at him unimpressed. "Nice try, Charming. Still not happening."

 _Charming._ Suddenly, an idea popped in the young king's head. "You love me, right Mal?"

The abrupt change in topic confused her. "Uh, yeah, of course I do, Ben."

"Oh. I just thought maybe you didn't since you wouldn't do this for me," he said sadly, looking away from her.

"What? No, Ben, I love you, I promise," she repeated. "I'm not doing magic because I love you. I don't want you to ruin your reputation by letting Maleficent's daughter use magic whenever she needs to."

"Ok, Mal," he sighed, "Whatever you say."

"Ben, I swear. I love you with all my heart. Remember? True love's kiss?"

Ben felt really awful for making her panic like this, but he loved hearing her say those words over and over. "I don't even know if that would work anymore."

"Of course it does! See?" And with that she grabbed his face and turned it to face hers as she smashed her lips against his.

No sooner had her lips met his that he felt a slight tingling on his lips and then he was knocked back a few feet, landing on his back.

"Ben!" Mal cried, running to kneel by his side. His eyes were closed and his face was flushed, and his hair was going in all different directions as if a shock had been sent through him. "Ben, wake up!"

The king opened his eyes, smiling up at his girlfriend. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He sat up and asked her, "The question is, are you okay?"

"What? Why are you asking about me, you just freaking flew back five feet and-" She paused suddenly and after a moment she glared at Ben. "I hate you."

"Why would that be?" He smiled innocently. "I distinctly remember you saying you love me."

She crossed her arms and glared at him even more. "You made me think you didn't think I loved you anymore so that I'd kiss you with the intent of true love's kiss."

"I didn't make you do anything. I just led you to make the decision."

"You could have gotten really hurt Ben."

"Oh well. I'd put myself at that risk every time you needed me if it meant you would be happy."

"Well, it may have worked this time, but it's not happening next time. I'm not letting you put yourself at that risk and I'm not going to break the law, Ben. So good luck coming up with your next brilliant idea."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm full of those. We just need to talk to Fairy Godmother real quick."

* * *

"Wow, Ben, what a good idea," Fairy Godmother remarked. "Using the intent of true love's kiss as a magical spell. I never would have thought of it."

"Yeah, me neither," Mal muttered loudly enough for Ben to hear next to her. He tightened his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, earning a huff from the purple haired girl.

"Yes, well, anyway," Ben continued. "Since this issue will come up again since she still won't use any magic, I was wondering if true love's kiss would work every time."

"I told you I'm not going to fall for it again," Mal said.

"You didn't let me finish. What I was going to say was if we did it every couple of days, would it keep her magic stable while also not building up too much so that there is a blast like there was today?"

"Why, yes, I do believe it would since it is technically a spell. As long as Mal makes sure that the kiss is being seen as true love's kiss by thinking it, it should work."

Ben nodded. "Thank you Fairy Godmother," he replied.

"Your welcome, dear," the older woman replied, smiling as the young couple exited her office.

As soon as the news hit Evie, she practically squealed. "Oh my gosh. That was brilliant of you, Ben. How did you come up with that?"

"No need to tell him it was a good idea, Evie," Mal deadpanned. "He already knows."

Both ignoring her, Ben replied, "Well, Mal called me Charming and I thought of how a smooth prince move is a kiss and then how you always say it works every time."

"It does work every time!" Evie exclaimed. "Doesn't it Mal?" she asked with a smirk.

Mal glared at her best friend. "Shut up, Evie."

"Why does Evie need to shut up, Mal?" Jay teased as he walked up to the group. "What'd you do this time?"

Evie opened her mouth to tell the story, but Mal quickly interrupted her. "Nope. You can tell them after I'm gone. I don't want to hear anything more about it and Ben's ego doesn't need to be any bigger." She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and marched away from her friends.

As Mal and Ben were going to sleep that night, Ben laid on the bed, his head propped up on his hand as he watched Mal brush her hair. "So, you ready for true love's kiss tonight?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm good." She set her brush down and turned to face him. "I think I can wait one night," she said with a smirk ten times more evil than his.

"But what if I can't go one night without it?" he pouted.

She laid down beside him. "Then I guess you'll just have to suffer."

Suddenly she found herself pinned against the bed with Ben above her. "Maybe I should make you suffer."

Her eyes widened. "Ben, no. Please don't. No, no-"

She was cut off by his fingers tickling her sides, eliciting laughs and shrieks from her. "Ben, stop! Ben, please! Stop!"

He stopped torturing her, smiling down at her as he observed her flushed face and purple hair fanned around her. "You're beautiful."

She pushed him off of her. "Way to ruin it," she teased.

Staring at the ceiling, she spoke, "No matter how much you annoy me sometimes, I'll always love you." She turned her head to face him. "And even when I don't listen to you, I love you too. You know that, right?"

He brushed a curl behind her ear. "Of course. I'm sorry I made you doubt it."

"I know you were just trying to help." She smiled. "But if you could not tell anyone else about your 'great' idea, that'd be great. I don't need the whole world knowing the only reason I'm sane is because I'm kissing the king."

"I never even thought of it like that!" he exclaimed. "Now that's a headline."

She groaned loudly. "Think there's another spell I can start doing instead, Your Majesty?"

"Nope. From now on you must control your magic by receiving true love's kiss, as it is the only magic that is safely allowed now. King's orders."

Mal raised her eyebrows at him. "Orders? Really? That's where we're going?"

"Well, uh, more like suggestion, I guess," he stuttered as Mal stared him down. "I mean, if you really don't want to do this anymore, I'm sure that, uh, I can permit something else."

She smiled sweetly at him, then pressed a kiss to his lips. "I think this will do just fine, don't you?"

He chuckled quietly, looking down into her eyes. "Of course, My Lady. Anything for you."


End file.
